You're 5x Likelier To Reach Your Goals Using This Technique

Hey,

It's Cyrus.

Welcome to this short exercise that's based on FIT,

Functional Imagery Training,

One of the most recent science-backed techniques to help you achieve your goals and sustain motivation super consistently.

Dr.

Jonathan Rhodes and a team of researchers at the University of Plymouth conducted studies that showed that participants that use this technique were five times more likely to lose weight and keep the weight off than a control group that just used talk therapy or verbal motivation.

And another mind-blowing study they did showed that non-runners who use this technique were five times more likely to complete an ultramarathon than non-runners who tried to complete one by talking themselves into motivation.

This technique is truly one of the keys to activating your brain's motivational circuits and making sure you stay on track to truly complete your goals.

So pick a goal now that you wanna try this on,

And you can repeat it later on other goals if it works well for you.

It could be a physical goal,

A nutritional goal,

A work goal,

A relationship goal,

A creative goal.

Whatever idea of a goal excites and challenges you,

Pause the video if you need to think about it.

And once you have it,

Find a comfortable place where you can sit upright,

Relaxed,

And alert,

And close your eyes.

Take a slow,

Deep breath in through the nose.

Fill up your entire body with the breath.

And let the breath fall out of your mouth effortlessly,

Relaxing your muscles as you exhale.

Let's do one breath hold to shift the body into a parasympathetic state,

Breathing deeply in through the nose,

Filling up the entire body,

Holding at the top,

And feeling your body's energy head to toe as you hold for a moment.

Releasing the breath out through the mouth now,

Relaxing the muscles even more deeply as you let the air out of the balloon.

Take a moment to tune in to the energy in your body.

Notice how it feels in your hands and fingers,

The buzzing or tingling sensations,

The feeling of your feet on the floor,

The soles making contact with the ground.

Notice the energy running up and down your legs,

And the feeling in your chest and stomach.

Notice your arms and hands.

And feel the energy run up through the neck,

Into the head,

Familiarizing yourself with the current sensations in your face.

Feel yourself grounded in your energy head to toe for a moment,

The breath flowing to you freely and effortlessly,

Relaxed and alert.

And start to be aware of the goal that you've chosen now.

Be aware of the process of the daily or weekly actions that it will take to get you to that goal.

And now be aware of the finish line of the accomplishment of that goal.

Start to allow an image to arise of what it would look,

Sound,

And feel like to be at or just past the finish line of that goal,

Basking in the moment and sense of accomplishment.

And now I'll ask you some questions and give you about 30 seconds to reflect on each question.

Whatever arises is good as a starting place.

Don't judge whatever answers come up.

Just be open.

And if you have extra time,

Just let the answer marinate and integrate within your mind and body.

The first question is,

What is the greater purpose of you accomplishing this goal?

How will it serve,

Inspire,

Or help others,

Whether directly or indirectly?

Letting that go now.

And the second question is,

What meaning would accomplishing this goal have to you?

What is important to you on a personal level or what personal values does it help you move towards or embody?

Letting that go now.

And the third question is,

How would it impact you and your life positively in the future,

Whether it's six months,

A year,

Two,

Or even five years into the future?

Imagine and feel those positive ripple effects.

Letting that go.

And the final question before we craft your personal image is,

Are you ready to commit to the daily actions that it takes to accomplish this goal?

Don't judge the answer because even if you're not ready,

This could just be the seed that needs to be planted for when you eventually are ready.

But just ask yourself for an honest answer.

Do you feel ready to commit to the process of accomplishing this goal?

And now let go of those answers.

Let the energy they've generated circulate through your body and your subconscious,

Trusting they're working for you automatically in the background.

Take a gentle,

Deep breath and release them now so that you can create a blank slate to paint your imagery from.

Draw your attention to the space behind your eyebrows and imagine a big,

Empty space opening up there as you breathe into it.

Imagine this like a blank canvas that you can paint your perfect image on.

And once again,

Call up that image of the moment of accomplishment of that goal,

Or perhaps it's a moment shortly after where you receive acknowledgement or appreciation for that goal.

Whatever image brings you the most motivation calls up those inspiring feelings within you and reminds you of that sense of meaning,

Purpose,

And commitment that you called on.

Start to picture that now,

Letting your imagination run wild and be as creative as it wants to.

As you see this image,

Notice how you're viewing it.

Do you see it in the third person as if you're watching yourself or the first person out of your eyes?

Notice what you see,

The visual details that stand out to you.

Notice what you hear,

Any sounds or words spoken by yourself or others.

Notice if there's a smell or a taste associated with this image,

Really enlivening all of your senses.

And notice any feelings in your body.

What do the emotions feel like of this accomplishment?

What is your heart doing?

How is your breathing?

Notice and welcome all these positive physiological sensations to wash through the body as you see this image in vivid detail.

Take a three-dimensional snapshot of this image.

Really commit all the details on a feeling and sensory level to your mind's eye and imagination now.

Think of this image as a place that your mind can come back to in all of its fullness and detail to bring about these feelings,

This motivation,

This vivid detail to propel you towards it.

And now that you have your image clearly crafted,

Select a cue that you can associate this image with so that you're reminded of it on a daily basis.

This is an action that you do every day,

Ideally multiple times a day that you can use to associate your image with so that you're calling it up on a daily basis,

Refreshing and renewing your motivation.

This could be the moment where you put your feet on the ground after rolling out of bed,

Or it could be brushing your teeth,

Or picking up a glass to take a drink of water,

Or it could be a conscious cue like putting your hand on your heart or on your opposite wrist.

But select one or two of these cues now that you know you'll do on a daily basis,

Ideally multiple times a day.

And when you feel ready,

Open your eyes and on a sticky note or something that you can put in a place where you'll see it every day,

Write down your goal and your cues,

And perhaps any other insights you had about purpose,

Meaning,

Commitment,

And put that sticky note in a place where you'll see it every day until you get in the habit of recalling your image every time you do your cue.

Take a solid five or 10 seconds,

Or maybe even more to really vividly visualize your image and call up those feelings and emotions every time you do your cue.

You can also proactively call up your cue anytime you want,

Perhaps using a conscious cue like putting your hand on your heart or your wrist.

Anytime you're experiencing moments of challenge,

Of inertia,

Of difficulty and adversity on the way to your goal,

Or moments where you're caught up in your thoughts and your emotions that are keeping you away from the daily actions that you need to do to move towards your goal.

Use this image to center yourself and remind yourself of the bigger picture of what matters to you and why you're doing what you're doing so you can stay as consistent as possible in your behavior,

Your motivation,

And your inspiration.

If this helped,

Be sure to repeat this session on other goals that you might want to accomplish or other day-to-day life situations where imagery might give you a boost.

And feel free to check out the book this was based on if you want to learn more.

It's called The Choice Point by Joanna Grover and Dr.

Jonathan Rhodes.

Thank you so much to both of them and all the other researchers who helped to innovate functional imagery training.

Thank you for listening and please share this with anyone you think it might benefit,

And I hope you have an amazing week.